Renovations were completed through a public-private partnership with the Ohio PACE program that helps companies finance these kind of improvements, according to Greenworks Lending, which helped finance the project.

According to Greenworks:

• The total financed amount for the energy-focused portion of work at Timothy’s was $230,387.

Jessica Bailey, chief executive and co-founder of Greenworks, said the work will make the bar more energy efficient. “It was a whole range of measures,” she said in an interview.

These projects can be expensive up front, which leads some business owners to try to avoid them, Bailey said.

But that can be a mistake, she said. Through PACE financing, the money does not have to come out of pocket immediately. And the repayment structure is very long term, which is one thing entrepreneurs like about PACE financing, she added.

“Presumably, (Timothy’s owner) Marty (Brown) has better things to do with his own capital,” Bailey said. Instead, Timothy’s can use its capital to invest in, say, a new pool table or some other feature.

Said Bailey: “He can use our money to sort of do things that are invisible but important.”

She said this project is a good example of a “main street application of this financing tool.”

In 2016, Timothy’s got updates to its exterior including the addition of a patio.

“This is the type of bar that many of us went to in college,” Bailey said.